Editorial: ​St Patrick’s Day triumph for Northern Ireland ministers who showed up in Washington

​Unionist politicians had an extraordinary opportunity to showcase Northern Ireland in Washington yesterday, and to show Irish America the other side of life on this island.

​The annual St Patrick’s Day celebrations were boycotted for the second year running by Sinn Fein and Alliance ministers, leaving the door open for unionists to impress upon the Trump administration the province’s distinct political and cultural offering.

The delegation was led by the DUP deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, who joked about the absence of her executive colleagues.

Aside from the ceremony, the St Patrick’s Day visit allows for figures from the worlds of politics, business, academia and civic society to sell the best of Northern Ireland – and hopefully to strengthen professional and personal bonds with America.

As Gordon Lyons has been highlighting in his role as communities minister, those ties stretch back over hundreds of years – and Ulster people played a foundational role in the United States. That is something which unionists have been slow to exploit down the decades, something he hopes to change.

That cultural relationship was highlighted like never before this year, with Ulster Scots (or Scots-Irish as it is known in the US) having a central role in the celebrations. Attendees at the Speaker's Lunch watched an adaptation of ‘On Eagle’s Wing’ – the story of brave 17th century pioneers who sailed to America from Groomsport on the north Down coast.

There was serious work too, with the health minister focusing on building links with US health care providers – and the usual push from politicians to push for investment in the province.

Overall, the event was a triumph for the unionist ministers who decided to show up and do their bit to put Northern Ireland on the map.